Try (over and over) again
by lizpak
Summary: After living through the sames things multiple times, is it really a wonder they just don't care anymore? You try to bring down a criminal organization for the tenth time and stay sane. (Loop AU)
1. Chapter 1

**Loop 1**

Shinichi wakes up to a familiar ceiling, one that he hasn't seen in a long time.

He isn't one to panic, so, when he remembers that just a couple of seconds ago he was screaming at Kaito to drop the stone that was supposed to be Pandora, he blinks.

He keeps blinking until it's obvious that nothing is going to change. Shinichi sits up-

Wait a second.

He looks down at his hands. They are not small.

He's back in his body.

How did it-

No, he doesn't want to know. Knowing his luck – and Kaito's – it probably involves magic. And Pandora.

On the nighttable his phone pings.

It's a text from an unknown number.

Unknown

 _shi_

Relief floods him, because there's only one persone that calls him that. He's not alone in this – whatever this is.

Shinichi

 _kai_

A moment later, the phone rings.

* * *

 **Loop 12**

If there's a thing that scares Edoka's students more than a happy, giggling Kaito, it's a sulking Kaito.

What terryfies them, though, it's the "I'm bored" that leaves his lips in a sigh.

When the teacer comes in and announces a new student, he blinks in surprise.

The class watches in terror as a clone walks in and waves, giving them a very Kaito-like smile. They shudder.

Then Kaito is screeching and launcing himself to his twin. "SHI!"

Other-Kaito takes a step to the side and the magician ends up on the floor with a worrying thump.

Other-Kaito ignores him and bows. "Kudo Shinichi, please take care of me." And when Kaito whimpers something from the floor, Kudo just rolls his eyes and goes to take a seat. "Idiot."

* * *

 **Loop 39**

"Do you ever wonder when all of this will stop?"

Shinichi pauses in his petting and the dove on his lap – Sora-kun, probably – peck his finger. "Not really."

Kaito, surrounded by so many birds that the only thing you can see is his nose, turns to him. "Why not?"

The detective shrugs. "After a while I stopped caring."

"Oh." A moment of silence, and then "Hey, wanna go scaring Hattori?"

"Sure."

And that's it.

* * *

 **Loop 105**

A pink cloud of smoke engulfs the hall. Hakuba reaches to his left, grabbing Kuroba's arm. There's no way he'll be able to steal the jewel-

"Ladies and gentlemen!"

 _What._

Near him Kuroba squeals. "KID-SAMA!"

The detective turns to Kid, then to Kuroba, to Kid again.

The thief laughs, gracefully jumping on the floor. He smirks at him and Hakuba doesn't understand.

Kuroba is supposed to be Kid! How- what- why-

Kid winks and Kuroba squeals again, like the other fans.

When the heist ends, the detective is still in the same place.

 _Kid and Kuroba aren't the same person._

* * *

 **Loop 7**

Kaito wakes up, blinks, look at his calendar and groans.

 _Not again!_

Two hours later he's breaking in the Kudo Mansion, to find Shinichi with his head on the kitchen table, repeating "why why why why" over and over again.

"Hey"

The detective only grunts.

Kaito hums and hands him a cup of coffee. "I could tranfer to your school?"

And that's how Beika knew what real fear is.

(And that Prankster-Shinichi is way more terryfing than Detective-Shinichi glaring at you.)

* * *

 **Loop 68**

Shinichi wakes up with a groan and a pair of little hands shaking him.

"Nii-san, Nii-san, wake up. We are going to be late for the heist!"

The young man rolls on his side, arms grabbing the small body near him and hugging it close. "Conan..."he mumbles"just a couple of minutes..."

His little brother grumbles a bit, before relaxing against him.

Shinichi sighs and hugs him tighter-

 _Wait what?!_

He bolts upright, falling down of the bed. From over the covers a face looks at him with concerned blue eyes. "You okay, Nii-san?"

There's a mini-Shinichi staring at him.

After a moment of panic, Shinichi grins. _Oh oh oh._ There is a _mini-Shinichi_ staring at him.

"Ne ne, Chibi" he says, the nickname flowing naturally off his tongue and causing the kid to wrinkle his nose and, wow, has he been so cute as Conan? "How do you feel about helping Nii-san with a little prank?"

Conan pouts and, no, there is no urge to hugs him. There isn't. "But you promised to catch Kid with me!" he whines.

"I know, but what if it was a prank on him?"

It takes only a couple of moments, but then the kid – his little brother, Conan, Chibi, Mini-him – is grinning back at him.

Yes, he thinks, finally indulging in his need to hug Conan, revenge is gonna be _so_ sweet.

(In Edoka, Kaito wakes up shivering. Strange, the windows aren't even open. But then memories rush in his mind and he all but rans to finish the preparation for his heist.

He completely forgets about an angry Shinichi telling him to watch his back in the previous loop.)

* * *

 **Loop 53**

Shinichi wonders why it's always him that gets in this situations.

Maybe he should really look for some curse – other than Pandora's, obviously.

Well, he growls, staring at his hands- paws, at his, black, furred, _paws –_ maybe when he isn't a cat.

His ears twich – he can hear soft footspes aproacching the small alley he's in.

"Oh, hello there" says a familiar voice.

Shinichi looks up from the box he's sitting in, tail nervously curling around his paws. He stares at teal eyes and mews pathetically.

Hakuba never stood a chance to his puppy – kitten? – eyes.

Later, dozing on the coach beside the blond, his savior decides it's time to find a name for him.

"How about Kuro?"

Shinichi growls a bit. The british blinks at him, probably not expecting an answer.

"Uh, Neko?"

A glare. _Seriously?_

"Whiskers?"

A hiss.

They keep going like this for almost an hour, before Shinichi decides to get up and walking towards Hakuba's library. It's nothing like the one in the Kudo Mansion, but, as he reads the titles, it will serves its purpose. He jumps on the near table with the grace only a cat possesses and then leaps on one of the shelves.

The blond is probably gaping at him, but, hey, he should be used to weird things, right? He's the one in the same class with a witch (and Kaito), after all.

He swings to make a book fall down and then he proceeds to stare at Hakuba until the teenager takes it from the floor.

It's a french book and Shinichi thought it would be hilarious to see Kaito's face, so, when Hakuba reads aloud the title, he purrs loudly.

The blond groans. "Lupin, really?" Then, putting away the book, he grumbles "Why couldn't I pick a cat that was a Holmes fan?"

Shinichi – Lupin just goes back to napping on what is now his pillow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Trolling. More AUs. And a bit of angst.**

 **Probably.**

* * *

 **Loop 91**

Shinichi blinks and pauses midsentence. He's reading the script for his next movie and his mother is helping him.

He doesn't remember ever meeting Kai in this life.

Oh, and has he said that he is currently in Paris?

 _Well, this is different._

Then the fox on his lap - ok, not the stragest thing that happened to him - blinks red eyes at him. ' _Everything okay, Chi?'_

It definetly says something about his life that it still isn't the most absurd thing he experienced.

The fact that the fox is apparently this universe version of Pandora and that he is some kind of guardian is, though.

(Even after all this Loops he still wonder why it's always, _always_ , him that gets in this situations.)

(But, hey, he has _powers_ in this universe! Take that Kai! He has _magic_!)

* * *

 **Loop 109**

His father is alive.

His _father_ is alive.

His father is _alive_.

 _His father is **alive**. _

Kaito gapes at him and then the poker face slams in. "I'm inviting the Kudos at dinner." He pays no mind to the fact that he has never met them in this Loop and jumpes out of the window.

His father - _he's alive he's alivealivehesaliveohmygod **hesalive**_ \- calls out for him. Kaito climbs a tree and stays there.

He won't move until Shi's there with him.

(In the end the Kudos aren't invited at dinner, but that's ok, because Kaito is breaking in the Mansion way before midnight.)

* * *

 **Loop 1.1**

It's probably one of his worst ideas, he knows, but it's the only thing he can think of.

They know the future, they can prevent so many things. But they need to not change too much or their knowledge will become useless.

A major point they can't afford to change is Conan. (And Shinichi doesn't know how to not be Conan, doesn't know how to be just Shinichi.)

So, it's simple, really.

Kaito knows what happened at the amusement park that day.

He doesn't know _when_.

It's very easy to pretend with Ran for a couple of day, writing off any strange behavior as the effect of a mild headache. (He's lying to her, _again_. Maybe he has forgotten how not to?)

He goes to Tropical Land. He rides the rollercoaster and solves the murder.

Then he takes a fortifying breath and follows Gin and Vodka.

(He feels like throwing up. After all he has gone through in order to be Shinichi again, now that he is himself, he's going to transform in Conan volontuarly.

He feels so _sick_.)

Kaito is going to be mad. But he will understand, Shinichi knows he will.

Then he'll start fussing.

That last though is enough to make his lips twich.

And that's when something hits him on the head and the world fades away.

* * *

 **Loop 53.1**

Saguro's pretty sure Lupin - why couldn't the cat chose something like Sherlock or Arthur? - isn't a normal cat.

Cats don't use a book to show which name they want. They don't _chose_ their name.

Cats don't read police reports.

They don't help solving cases pawing at photos of suspects and specific words or grabbing random objects, sitting on the case' s folder and staring at him until he finally gets the _who_ and the _how_. Sometimes even the _why._

Cats don't start grumble around one a.m. and take whatever he is occupied with around the house and then settle on his bed when he finally conceds to go to sleep.

They don't make sure he has everything he need every morning by blocking his way out of the door until he checks his bag twice.

They certainly don't stare longingly at cups of coffee and then drink happily said coffee when offered a cup of their own.

But apparently his does.

He isn't even surprised when one afternoon he find Lupin staring at the television, KID's last heist playing on the screen.

And he does nothing more than blink when the morning after Lupin jumpes in his school bag.

(If he wonders for a brief moment if the cat will find a way to help him in class too, well. That's for him to know and for everyone else to never find out.)

* * *

 **Loop 7.1**

Shinichi is acting strange. He's smiling, humming some tune (and no ones ears have started bleeding yet) and he keeps wriggling in his chair.

He's _giddy_ and he's making their classmates uncomfortable.

(He's making _her_ uncomfortable.)

Ran decides to confront him.

She approaches his desk and he turns to her with a blinding smile. "Hello!" He chirps.

Shinichi doesn't _chirp_.

She's about to speak and ask him if he has eaten vanilla flavored chocolate again (the last time was when they were ten and she still has nightmares), when the door is thrown open and Shinichi marches in the class with pink hair and yellow uniform.

 _Wait._

 _Shinichi_ marches in and glares at a giggling _Shinichi_.

(Someone whimpers. A couple of girls squeal.)

 _ **What**._


End file.
